July 2022 Debtfree Issue
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
QUESTIONABLE COLLECTION CALLS ABOUT OLD DEBTS<br />
WHAT THE<br />
LAW SAYS<br />
In South Africa, like many other<br />
countries, there are laws about<br />
credit providers trying to collect<br />
many years later.<br />
The Prescription Act and refinements in<br />
understanding from court cases and other<br />
legislation stops credit providers from<br />
forgetting about a debt and then many years<br />
later coming back to demand payments.<br />
In general* if you have not been contacted by<br />
a credit provider about a debt for 3 years and<br />
have not paid money towards that debt for 3<br />
years and have not been taken to court over<br />
this older debt then the debt has prescribed<br />
(or died).<br />
It then becomes illegal for credit providers to<br />
collect such debt.<br />
*and we are being pretty general here as there are specific laws all about<br />
this sort of thing. Another good thing to know is that paying something<br />
towards a debt that has already prescribed does not mean that the debt is<br />
somehow active again and that you have to carry on paying. Once it dies,<br />
it is dead.